Behind the Mask
by OwlRampage
Summary: From a young age, Akali and Shen had loved each other. After Shen's trial to become the Eye of Twilight, a mask of neutrality covers his old personality, but Akali remembers how he used to be. After his mask is shattered, Shen struggles to right the wrongs he has done.
1. Chapter 1

_ Shen and Akali were lying side by side on a grassy hill, looking up at the starry night sky. Akali turned over on her side and propped herself up on an elbow so she could face Shen._

_ "Shen?" She asked, studying his face as it gazed up at the constellations._

_ "Yes, Akali?"_

_ "Do you promise to love me forever, like you do now?"_

_ Shen turned his head to the side to look her in the eyes. "Of course. Nothing will ever change the way I feel about you, even becoming the Eye of Twilight." He set his hand gently on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. "I will always love you, no matter what."_

_ Akali smiled, and met him halfway in a kiss. She thought about his impending trial to become the Eye of Twilight, and what horrible test he would have to face. A worried look crossed her face that did not go unnoticed by Shen._

_ "What's wrong?" he asked in concern._

_ "Your trial," Akali said softly, putting a hand on his chest and resting her head there. They were silent for a few moments until Shen responded._

_ "I'll be fine. You'll see," he answered. But there was a quaver in his voice that Akali noticed. She looked up at Shen's face, and for the first time, she saw a trace of fear. Hugging tightly to him, she reassured the man she loved. "I know you will pass whatever test they throw at you. I have faith in you, Shen."_

_ "Thank you, Akali. I want you to know that however much I change, I will always, always love you. Remember that we will always stand united."_

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my second attempt at a fanfiction, and it's only the prologue, but if you could give me some feedback I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure how often I can upload chapters, but this story should be pretty short. ~Hope you enjoyed it!~**


	2. Chapter 2

Training for the day had ended, and Akali was pulling her Kamas from the body of a wooden training dummy; Kennen had already left to spend some time with an unknown date. Shen walked over to Akali and tapped her shoulder. Wrenching her final Kama out of the wooden torso, Akali turned towards Shen.

"I would like to commend you on your work today, Fist of Shadow. You did exceptionally well when I implemented the surprise attacks." He patted her once on the back, and then left the dojo. Akali smiled at his compliment, and even though Shen could not see, she nodded her thanks. She knew that underneath the emotionless mask that was her leader, a gentle loving heart that beat for her and her alone. But lately, the hidden warmth had grown fainter, and Akali was worried about Shen. She resolved to confront him about it when they met for private meditations.

The next afternoon, Akali walked into the private gardens used by the Kinkou to meditate each week. Rounding the corner, she could see Shen in his usual place, a look of serenity on his unmasked face. Unsure of how to approach him with her concerns, she simply sat down next to him and meditated on her thoughts. After a long silence, Akali was startled when Shen suddenly spoke.

"Fist of Shadow, something is bothering you. What is it?" he asked calmly, not opening his eyes. Akali briefly wondered how he knew that she was bothered, but realized that, as the Eye of Twilight, Shen could sense things that others never would. She sighed, opened her eyes, and turned towards him.

"It's you. You've become more and more distant, and I want to know why," Akali said, gritting her teeth and pushing the words out.

"Fist of Shadow, I am completely fine. My physical and mental health is finely honed," he replied in a monotone voice. "If you are referring to my emotional state, I must remind you that as the Eye of Twilight, I do not allow feelings that could compromise my judgment."

"No, your attitude towards me has changed. I could tell how you felt by your tone, but now you sound like you don't let yourself feel _anything_. Hiding emotion is different than preventing emotion!" She retorted angrily.

Shen blinked at Akali's outburst, and shook his head. "No, your concern is appreciated yet unwarranted, Fist of Sha-"

"I've heard enough, Eye of Twilight, thank you." Akali interrupted coldly, turning away from him. Hot, stinging tears started welling up in her eyes, and Akali quickly stormed away from Shen. By now, the sun had dipped low onto the horizon, and streaks of red and gold were painted across the sky. Watching Akali's quickly diminishing figure, Shen felt a regretful pang in his chest; his mask was starting to crack.

**A/N: So I'm sorry about not posting for a long time - I've had a lot of stuff going on and to top it all off my computer broke. I had to upload this from a friend's laptop after re-writing what I had. Hopefully it's not too cliche, blah blah blah... As always, R & R!**


	3. Chapter 3

Shen stepped into the shower, sighing deeply as the hot water rushed along his masculine form and washed away the grime of the day. He thought about what had happened out in the gardens, and why his responses had caused Akali's reaction. Everything he said was true, was it not? It was perfectly reasonable and Akali should have understood his duties, but why had she acted so foolishly, so rashly at his words? Surely he was in the right. Surely there was a plausible explanation for why his fellow ninja had acted so immaturely. Shen's thoughts swirled in his head as he pondered these questions. He turned off the shower, wrapped himself in a towel, and stepped out into his bedroom. Sitting down on the bed, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He knew exactly why Akali was so upset. The memory of the night on the hill where they confessed their love to each other was never forgotten, and it began to resurface as he realized that he had been lost in his duties.

A wave of sadness washed over Shen as he thought of how Akali would see him after such a cold rejection, followed by a blaze of anger at himself for losing sight of what he had strived to maintain. He stood up angrily and threw a messy punch at the wall, splintering a hole in the wooden panels. Wincing as he pulled his fist out, he sat back down and began to pluck out the shards of wood in his arm. Shen wondered what he needed to do to reassure Akali of his love for her, after so long hiding it from the light of day. Putting on some shorts to sleep in, he lay back on his bed and sighed as he imagined the effects of his folly.

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**AN: Hey guys, I know it's been quite a long time and a lot of you really wanted me to update! I recently finished school for the summer so I'll have more time to write this and other stories. I whipped this chapter up in like 20 minutes so you guys could read a bit more, so it's not as developed as the other chapters. Rest assured, there will be more and longer chapters ahead of us.**


	4. Chapter 4

_ "Akali, I'm so sorry. I never should have acted so awfully and I want you to know that I still love you; I never stopped, I just forgot for a while," Shen pleaded to Akali while she stood in front of him, face stony and cold._

_ "I am sorry too, Eye of Twilight. You misunderstand my feelings for you. I never loved you, and I never will," Akali replied, expressionless._

_ "But what about that night on the hill? You said you would love me forever, just as I promised to you!" He began, confused and angry. Akali let out a short, cruel laugh._

_ "You fool. Did you not notice that I never said I loved you? Were you so blinded by your childish infatuation that you could not see the way I toyed with you?" Akali's face turned into a vicious sneer as Shen fell to his knees, stunned._

_ "You really were oblivious. You are not fit to hold the title of the Eye of Twilight if you cannot clearly see deception from those closest to you." Shen's world began to spin, and dark shadows formed around him, swirling, infesting, corrupting his soul with emptiness and doubt. He fell sideways into the shadows, falling ever so slowly as he watched Akali fade away, the contemptuous sneer still on her face. He was falling, falling, falling…_

And abruptly woke up in a cold sweat, his heart beating rapidly and his breath ragged. It was only a nightmare, and a chilling one at that. _But could it be true?_ Shen thought, panicked at the thought of his dream being a cruel reality that he would have to face. He looked out his window and saw the moon still high in the sky. Dawn would not come for several hours, and Shen didn't want to risk having another torturous nightmare. He resolved to work out his stress in the training room, and hopefully calm his overactive imagination.

Walking down the hall to the training facility, Shen heard the sounds of someone inside; from the sound of wood splintering and fabric tearing, he guessed whoever it was seemed to be focused on demolishing everything in the room. Maybe he could spar with this other sleepless person. Stepping into the doorway of the training room, Shen saw the only person he wanted to avoid – Akali. Sweat was dripping from her forehead as she slashed and kicked at the dummies around the room, and the intense look on her face could scare Cho'Gath away. Shen slowly backed away from the room and walked out into the cool night, looking for some other outlet to his stress. Eventually he just sat down on a bench in front of one of the many fountains around the League facility. Shen wondered why Akali would be in there, but he figured it was probably for the same reason he went in the first place. She was probably more stressed than he was about the whole situation. Shen knew that neither he nor Akali would be efficient in their duties if this went unresolved. He needed to fix this. He _would_ fix this.

**A/N: This felt like more of a filler chapter to me, but oh well. As always, read and review! And thanks to ****Canthandlemyswag for catching the mistake. **


	5. Chapter 5

Walking into the training room the next morning, Shen saw that Kennen had not arrived yet, but Akali was meditating peacefully in a corner. He took a deep breath and strode over to where she sat, anxious as to how he would approach her.

"Good morning, Eye of Twilight," Akali said, not opening her eyes. Shen flinched, knowing that she was still angry from the previous night's strife.

"Good morning, Akali," Shen replied hesitantly. At the sound of her name rather than her title, Akali opened her eyes slightly and looked at him suspiciously. "I understand that what happened yesterday did not leave us well-off towards each other, and I believe we should right the wrongs that we have done to each other." At this, Akali opened her eyes fully and stood up with a strange look in her eyes.

"Yes, we should amend our problem to maintain the balance," She stated calmly, looking Shen in the eye. He could see that she was not forgiving him, but merely accepting what he said as orders from her leader. Shen opened his mouth to say more, to say anything, but right then Kennen walked through the doorway, looking a bit ruffled but ready to train. Akali turned away from Shen and began her exercises, and he let out a sigh of frustration as he followed suit and began training.

When night fell, Shen left the training room and wandered around the League facility, eventually finding his way to the Cantina. It was already packed full of champions, some slumped over the bar, some sitting in booths with friends, drinking and signing noisily, and some leaned up against the wall, watching the commotion impassively. The ninja walked up to the bar and collapsed into one of the old barstools. Several of the other patrons watched him with mixed emotions: confusion, suspicion, and even anger. Gragas, the bartender, looked at him curiously as he asked "Er… What'll ya have, kid?"

"Whatever's strongest, I guess," Shen mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. Gragas placed a large mug of dark liquid on the bar and walked away to serve other patrons, but glanced back at Shen every once in a while. Shen simply sat at the bar and nursed his drink. After a few minutes, the tension in the bar's atmosphere lessened, and everyone seemed to ignore the ninja, who was staring into his empty mug. Ahri, however, was becoming increasingly interested in the stealthy champion. Strolling over with a sensual sway in her hips, the vixen sat down next to Shen, and scanned over his face. The ninja had never stepped foot into a place as low as this, and Ahri wanted to know why; even if she didn't, if she got him drunk enough, he would be an easy lay.

"Hey there, big boy. You don't come around here very often; why's that?" She asked in her most seductive tone. "Graggy, hun, please get this man another drink." Another mug of dark amber liquid slid across the bar towards the two, and Shen took it quietly, looking disinterestedly at Ahri. He began telling his story of how he and Akali's relationship had been ruined, revealing only small details at first, but eventually opening up more as the vixen ordered him more drinks. Initially, Ahri had shifted her position in the chair to accentuate parts of her body, but by the end of the story she was listening to Shen's tale with rapt attention. After he finished, a mischievous glint shone in her eyes.

"Well, I have something that can fix your little predicament. Follow me, dear," Ahri giggled. She grabbed hold of Shen's wrist and pulled him, without complaint, out of the bar.

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**A/N: I read a few of your reviews about how Shen wouldn't have gotten drunk on his own, so I edited the last bit of the chapter to fit better. As a whole, I like it more. And there's still gonna be a lemon in the next chapter to look forward to. Let me know if you like this version better!**


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